The leader of Warwick District Council expressed frustration that residents are "continuously lied to by developers" in a rant related to Aldi's store on Queensway.

The supermarket giant was slammed last month for trying to open up to customers what is currently a delivery-only access connected to Queensway.

Planning conditions put in place when the store was built dictate customers must access via the roundabout linked to Tachbrook Park Drive.

Safety concerns over the proposals, which would see a 1.5-metre-wide pedestrian path painted in between parking spaces and moving vehicles, plus the prospect of rat-running vehicles cutting through the car park to avoid traffic signals at the Europa Way roundabout at busy times, saw the district's planning committee unanimously vote to put the decision on hold while seeking advice.

On top of that, Cllr Ian Davison filed an objection on the day of that January decision, pulling no punches over what he considered to be an abandonment of what was agreed.

"This is a case where residents were promised that the traffic impact on their neighbourhood would be mitigated by bringing cars into the store via the roundabout on Tachbrook Park Drive, through the industrial estate rather than past residents' homes on Queensway," he wrote.

"This reminds me of similar cases where conditions were put in to get the application through planning and once residents get used to it, the developers try to push their luck. 

"Just like at Chesterton Gardens where they tried to change the road plan conditions, and at Warwick McDonalds where they requested we remove the condition of opening hours. Both conditions were put into place to protect the residents and communities. 

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"How can we expect our residents to have trust in the system when they are continuously lied to by developers and let down by highways and planning?"

There was another twist this week.

The plans were again recommended for approval by the district's planning officers following consultation with Warwickshire County Council's highways department only for them to be pulled from agenda at the 11th hour.

Highways felt the impact of rat-running "could be argued to be minimal as any rat-runners would follow a specific route between the accesses" with "minimal" crossover between routes used by vehicles and pedestrians.

They again stopped short of an objection related to the path because it is on private land, not the highways network, but acknowledged "we would not accept a painted footpath" if the site was adopted "as it does not meet standards or provide sufficient separation between vehicles and pedestrians". 

However, the county response did acknowledge "it is not uncommon for car parks to be laid out like this… and simply having the marked path is a betterment to the current layout in which there is none".

But by the time Tuesday's planning meeting came around, the item was withdrawn "because comments from WCC highways recommended further information regarding safety considerations associated with the development be provided prior to determination".

It calls for a road safety brief and stage one road safety audit, a formal review that highlights potential safety issues ahead of detailed designs being finalised.

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Aldi has been approached for comment via its external public relations partner Citypress.